1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of flowable loose packing particles used to surround and thereby cushion and protect a packed object.
2. Description of the Art
The present invention addresses the needs for (1) an environmentally degradable, inexpensive and effective loose packing product and (2) a productive use for scrap and used paperboard.
Internal packing which cushions and protects packaged articles may be categorized as "formed" and "loose" packing (also known as "dunnage"). Formed packing usually consists of relatively large pieces of a stiff material, such as styrofoam, which have been shaped to fit a specific article and a specific container. In contrast, loose packing consists of non-specifically shaped materials which overall conform to the shapes of the particular article and container and thereby largely fill the spaces between the article and the container side walls. Loose packing includes crumpled sheets, ribbons and flowable particles. Crumpled sheet packing may be made by crumpling sheets of newspaper, craft paper, plastic films in which air bubbles have been formed or other flexible sheet materials. Packing ribbons may be made from shredded paper, excelsior, straw or paper sheets and the like which are intertwined and twisted or otherwise formed into ribbons or rolls. Such ribbons are often used to fill relatively small and irregularly shaped packing volumes.
The present invention falls within the flowable particle subset of loose packing materials. Flowable particles are objects which are of a shape and sufficiently small size that they readily flow into the voids around and between the packed articles which they are intended to protect. The longest dimension of a flowable particle is commonly in the range of about 1/2 inch to 3 inches. The most widely used flowable particles are those made of expanded polystyrene and commonly referred to as "peanuts". See U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,586 issued to Bussey. The plastic "peanut" is not readily biodegradable and has familiar handling difficulties caused by static electricity. Other flowable particles have been made from popped popcorn, waste drinking straw stock (U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,543 issued to Stanley), and segments cut from loose packing ribbons (U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,877 issued to Johnson).
In addition to the desirability of providing another and improved flowable packing material, there is a need to recycle scrap and used paperboard. For purposes of this application, "paperboard" includes "stiff" paper and fabricated paperboard. Stiff paper is paper which is heavier, thicker and more rigid than the paper usually used for printing, writing, wrapping and sanitary purposes. In general, sheets more than 0.012 inches thick are stiff paper and hence paperboard herein; thinner sheets are not stiff paper and not paper board herein. However, there are exceptions--e.g., blotting paper, felts and some drawing paper may be classified as not stiff paper even if thicker than 0.012 inches because they have no substantial stiffness, and paper used for the facings of corrugated paperboard or for the outer plies of solid fabricated paperboard are classified in the industry as paperboard despite being thinner than 0.012 inches. The other type of paperboard, fabricated paperboard, is a structure made of two or more laminated plies of paper; fabricated paperboard may be corrugated or may be made of solid plies. Tagboard and folding carton stock are included within the meaning of "paperboard" as used herein.
Much scrap paperboard is generated in a fabricated paperboard container plant. In assembling fabricated paperboard, a strip ("side trim") is cut off of each side because the adhesive is less effectively applied at the edges or to trim the finished paperboard sheet to a desired size. In addition, scrap is generated from die cutting operations and from damaged and overrun products. Other industries may generate substantial quantities of scrap paperboard as well. In addition to scrap paperboard, the invention may be practiced with used paperboard, including old corrugated containers (OCC). Currently, some of this scrap and used paperboard is shipped to paper mills for reprocessing and is used to make new paperboard. What is needed is a higher-value use for scrap and used paperboard.
The present invention addresses both of these needs by providing a method and an apparatus to make flowable loose packing dunnage from scrap paperboard and a method for using that dunnage to protect packaged articles.
It will be recognized that the invention may be practiced with virgin paperboard, as well as with scrap and used paperboard.